Month: April 2013

If you go to the zoo, take a look at the reptile exhibit and find a snake. You’ll see that the snake is given more consideration than the dolphins at Marineland. You’ll see that the snake has got tree limbs to climb on, he’s got rocks to hide from the public if he wants to, grass—there’s always something natural about the snake’s habitat.

But if you look at the habitat of a captive dolphin, you’ll notice there’s nothing there. It’s just a blank, concrete box. Is that stress? Of course it is.

Why can’t marine parks create better environments for dolphins?

It’s really not what’s best for the dolphin; it’s about getting people to come and watch a show, and then getting another group of people to watch the same show.

The dolphins are separated from the natural rhythms of the sea: the tide, the current, the sounds of the sea, the things we take for granted. All of that is missing. That is what we call sensory deprivation. That makes it more stressful for them than other animals in captivity.

Truth – Dolphins look as though they are smiling because that is the way their faces are shaped. Captive dolphins are constantly on display with nowhere to hide and are forced to perform shows every single day. Dolphins are denied their freedom to travel, and in many cases are taken from their families and homes in the ocean. Would you be happy if you were a captive dolphin?

Myth – Captive dolphins are safe from predators and don’t have to look for food like would in the wild.

Truth – Inmates in prison are safe from being burgled and are fed each day. But do you think they are happy? The main difference between a jail cell and a aquarium tank is that on is filled with water.

Myth – Captive dolphin display have educational value.

Truth – The only thing captivity teaches is that it is okay to imprison animals and force them to perform for our entertainment. In captivity, a dolphin’s natural behavior are repressed. In the wild dolphins do not jump through hoops or drag people through the water with their fins. Captivity presents a completely false image of everything a dolphin is!

Myth – Children establish a connection with dolphins in captivity that would otherwise be impossible to achieve.

Truth – many children care about dinosaurs yet they have never see one. Through photos, videos, stories, tours to see wild dolphins and animations, children can develop love for dolphins without their having to suffer in captivity. Do you think your child would dolphins to suffer if they knew the truth?

Myth – Rescued dolphins have a good home in captivity.

Truth – Dolphins found injured or stranded need medical care and rehabilitation. However, they should not afterwards be forced into a life of servitude and display; they should be released back into the wild. If this is not possible they should be sent to a sea pen where they can live out their lives in privacy and a mostly natural environment.

“Dolphin shows are nothing but a display of human dominance over animals. They are as educational about dolphins as Mickey Mouse is about mice.’ Ric O’Barry

Dolphin exploitation continues to this day because the public remains unaware of dolphin suffering. Now that you are aware, please do not fund the suffering dolphins and other small whales by purchasing a ticket to a dolphin show or swim with dolphin program.

“Change starts with education. If people are aware of their impact on the earth, they’ll make smarter choices.” -Rob Stewart

Revolution – film about changing the world. The true-life adventure of Rob Stewart, this follow-up to his acclaimed SHARKWATER documentary continues his remarkable journey; one that will take him through 15 countries over four years, and where he’ll discover that it’s not only sharks that are in grave danger — it’s humanity itself.

In an effort to uncover the truth and find the secret to saving the ecosystems we depend on for survival, Stewart embarks on a life-threatening adventure. From the coral reefs in Papua New Guinea and deforestation in Madagascar to the largest and most destructive environmental project in history in Alberta, Canada, he reveals that all of our actions are interconnected and that environmental degradation, species loss, ocean acidification, pollution and food/water scarcity are reducing the Earth’s ability to house humans. How did this happen, and what will it take to change the course that humanity has set itself on?

Travelling the globe to meet with the dedicated individuals and organizations working on a solution, Stewart finds encouragement and hope, pointing to the revolutions of the past and how we’ve evolved and changed our course in times of necessity. If people were informed about what was really going on, they would fight for their future — and the future of other generations. From the evolution of our species to the revolution to save it, Stewart and his team take viewers on a groundbreaking mission into the greatest war ever waged.

Startling, beautiful, and provocative, Revolution inspires audiences from across the globe to start a revolution and change the world forever.

In a new peer-reviewed study, scientists assess the killing method employed by the dolphin hunters of Taiji, Japan, by watching video recorded surreptitiously in 2011 by a German dolphin-protection group, AtlanticBlue.

Here’s the researchers’ not-so-surprising prime conclusion: This killing method does not conform to the recognized requirement for “immediate insensibility” and would not be tolerated or permitted in any regulated slaughterhouse process in the developed world.

Annually in Japanese waters, small cetaceans are killed in “drive hunts” with quotas set by the government of Japan. The Taiji Fishing Cooperative in Japan has published the details of a new killing method that involves cutting (transecting) the spinal cord and purports to reduce time to death. The method involves the repeated insertion of a metal rod followed by the plugging of the wound to prevent blood loss into the water. To date, a paucity of data exists regarding these methods utilized in the drive hunts. Our veterinary and behavioral analysis of video documentation of this method indicates that it does not immediately lead to death and that the time to death data provided in the description of the method, based on termination of breathing and movement, is not supported by the available video data. The method employed causes damage to the vertebral blood vessels and the vascular rete from insertion of the rod that will lead to significant hemorrhage, but this alone would not produce a rapid death in a large mammal of this type. The method induces paraplegia (paralysis of the body) and death through trauma and gradual blood loss. This killing method does not conform to the recognized requirement for “immediate insensibility” and would not be tolerated or permitted in any regulated slaughterhouse process in the developed world.

Q. Can you tell me in a few words what this analysis means to you in the larger context of human/animal relations?

A. Dolphins are a cognitively and socially complex species that exist in their own societies in the seas. To see any animal treated in this way is shocking. Given what we know scientifically about the awareness, sensitively, cognitive and social prowess of dolphins, this treatment is unjustifiable and unacceptable and needs to be stopped immediately. In the larger context of human and non-human animal relations, the methods used to herd dolphins and then kill them is off-the chart in terms of any concern for animal welfare. At a time when most countries are concerned for the conservation and welfare of dolphins and whales it is strange and disturbing to see a modern country like Japan continue to ignore scientific knowledge and concern for these species. In most modern countries these mammals are protected but sadly we see these exceptions. Our scientific knowledge needs to transcend cultural and geographic boundaries and these species need global protection.

Q. One of the standard replies from Japan on this issue (whether with whales or dolphins) is that we, for example, cherish bison but eat bison burgers. Is there a distinction?

A. You cannot compare bison to dolphins in the cognitive domain. However, bison are not killed in this inhumane manner. Nor are lab rats. In cases in which animals are domesticated for food, most modern countries are striving for better animal welfare practices that minimize pain and suffering during the killing process with the goal to render an animal unconscious quickly before it is killed. This is not the case in the dolphin drive hunts. These are not domesticated animals; they are wild dolphins that are captured within their social groups, mother and young, and slaughtered using a technique that actually prolongs death, pain and suffering. The herding procedures themselves are inhumane and may include forced submersion as the dolphins are dragged by their tails to shore to be killed. This is not to say that dolphins should be killed. They should not.

In an interview last month with the journalist David Kirby, Mark Palmer, the associate director of Earth Island Institute’s International Marine Mammal Project, estimated that the dolphin hunters of Taiji killed nearly 900 dolphins and pilot whales this season and kept nearly 250 to sell for alive to the aquarium trade (which is booming in the Middle East and Asia).

This video is not suitable for children and may be disturbing to some adults:

Minds in the Water – 5 years in the making, Minds In The Water is the story of one surfer’s international journey to help protect dolphins, whales and their ocean environment. Shot on location in Australia, the Galapagos, Chile and Japan, the film captures a key moment in one person’s life when apathy is no longer an option. Pro surfer Dave Rastovich went from observer to activist when he embarked on a personal mission to help stop the worldwide commercial slaughter of dolphins and whales. While unsure at first, Rasta quickly found his activist sea legs and helped build a core team of filmmakers, journalists, musicians, eco-pirates and celebrity surfers to help spread the message. All this has been documented in the film, Minds In The Water. (Source)